Album review: NEKTAR – Mission To Mars

July 12th, 2024 by petefeenstra

Deko [Release date 30.06.24]

And so Nektar are back with another new line-up, but without keyboard player Klaus Henttatch, the last mainstay of the band since the passing of Roye Albighton.

Sadly drummer and founder member Ron Howden also passed recently, leaving the returning American based bass player Derek “Mo” Moore as the sole survivor and strand of continuity.

And continuity is what this album is all about. ‘Mission To Mars’ stays true to the band’s loosely defined conceptual dalliances with space, while the new material is essentially prog rock with fleeting psychedelic and Space Rock embellishments.

Kendall Scott (Project/Object/Flying Dreams) takes over on keys, synths and some vocals, while guitarist Ryche Chlanda (Renaissance/Flying Dreams/ Fireballet) provides versatile, gritty solos bolstered by a wide tonal array and vocals.

“Mo” Moore also sings and lays down some impeccable west coast sounding bass lines, while drummer Jay Ditammo (Band from Utopia/Ace Frehley) makes belligerent use of his tom toms in providing unrelenting drive to lengthy pieces that demand an intuitive grasp of dynamics.

The new line-up is completed by Maryann Castello on bv’s.

Imagine my surprise then, as the opening section of the ‘Mission To Mars’ title track puts me in mind of a riff driven AC/DC track. It’s topped a very 80’s American big hair band style chanted vocal, over a mixed back keyboard enriched wall of sound!

The titular line comprises more chanted vocals and a significant organ break, delivered with enough gusto to suggest that Nektar can still rock hard and groove on couplets like: “Ive got a a back beat pushing down the freeway, and its got to be a thousand miles, no fantatsy can change fools reality, a cold state of mind.”

Then as if via a sudden flash back, they conjure up a magical moment at the 4.54 minute mark, as Moore’s descending melodic bass line locks in with jangling guitars and a hovering synth. It’s a bona fide psychedelic moment closer to their old stable mates Man, which sends shivers down my spine.

The spell is broken by a spirally synth break and Chlanda’s caustic wah-wah solo which evokes the late Roye Albrighton and sounds like a sonically improved version of the early 70’s line-up.

A perfunctory finish acts as a perfect foil for the synth drenched ‘Long Lost Sunday’ which sounds like the next movement of the same suite!

We’re drawn in by a warm vocal, albeit with a muddied diction which only reveals little bits of an anticipatory lyrical line: “Die for you mercilessly, nobody’s listening, I saw the love in your eyes.”

It’s a track that works hard to gain traction and overcome a plodding sludgy feel with angular Tull sounding organ, offset by Moore’s luscious bass lines.

A rip roaring synth break, brings fresh momentum and pushes the band resolutely into a more proggy direction, while the repeated “dont walk away” lyric adds to a slow building tension on a surprisingly low key finish

In sharp contrast, an uplifting horn led orchestral drop-in levers us into the bass led ‘One Day Hi, One Day Lo’.

A combination of big synth squalls, sinewy guitar lines and a Pye Hastings (Caravan) style vocal all contribute to a slow building big wall of sound topped by the immortal line: “let’s trip into space.”

The track rises again like a wave with Genesis guitar and keyboard interplay, but they don’t quite deliver the expected denouement on a track that lacks a killer hook.

The closing acoustic intro of “I’ll Let You In’ leads to a welcome muscular arrangement building to a celebratory anthemic feel.

It takes us hither and thither before finally stripping things down to facilitate lyrical clarity.

It also provides the perfect book-end to an album played with real vim and vigour to illuminate conceptual intent.

That said, and putting the bass parts aside, it does feel a little claustrophobic at times, probably because the band tries to hard to adhere to a sense of its own prog history, at the expense of say jamming and certainly stronger conceptual material.

No matter. Nektar’s ‘Mission To Mars’ is a decent album and it’s great to have them back. ***1/2

Review by Pete Feenstra

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BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

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09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
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